Police Officer Goes Above & Beyond to Return Bike

Norman, OK -- Ever had something stolen from? You know, somebody takes something out of your yard, garage, car, office, etc. What about a bike? Sure, hundreds of those two-wheeled modes of transport are stolen every year in Oklahoma.

In many cases the owners don't even to bother to call police, and those that do hold little hope their bike will be returned.

Well, one Norman man's confidence in the vigilance of the police was restored when his Schwinn Ranger was located by police only 48-hours after it was stolen. And don't think this was just some drive-by sighting of the bike by police that led to its reuniting with its owner. This crime was solved Sherlock Holmes style.

According to court records, Richard Seals reported that his bicycle was stolen on October 2 in the 2200 block of West Main Street in Norman.

Seals was not able to provide police with a serial number, but did give them the combination to a U-style lock attached to the bike.

With little to go on, Norman police officer Shawn Hawkins was hot on the case.

According to officer Hawkins, he first turned to LeadsOnline.com, an Internet tool that tracks many types of business transactions, including items sold to pawn shops.

Hawkins was able to determine that a Schwinn bicycle, matching the description of Seals', was pawned only two blocks from and less than 15-minutes after Seals reported his stolen.

Hawkins went to EZ Pawn at 2321 West Main to investigate.

Hawkins immediately noticed the bike had a U-style lock on the handlebars. Hawkins tried the combination provided by Seals and the lock opened.

Pawn shop records revealed that the bike had been pawned by April Dawn Taylor, 23 of Lexington.

On October 20 Taylor was charged with the felony crimes of concealing stolen property and making a false declaration of ownership to a pawn broker.

Our hats off to Officer Hawkins!

Here's a tip for Seals, your handy dandy u-lock does a much better job when you actually USE IT.